This documentary about Bill Cunningham, a fashion photographer for the New York Times, and New York City street photographer, held my interest until it started getting repetitive. Indeed, Cunningham, now in his 80s, is a unique character what with his ascetic lifestyle and riding his bike all over New York City pursuing his passion for photographing any mode of dress he finds interesting. And the irony of his photographing the rich and famous was not lost on me. But I began to tire of all of the footage that had him riding his bike around and the mechanics of publishing his photographs.
The most frustrating thing for me was that I wanted to see more of his work. For the most part we see images, frequently multiple images per frame, for a split second. Impossible to absorb them with any level of appreciation. There were several scenes showing Cunningham working with an assistant (and driving him nuts) to compose layouts for the Times. Again, all we see is split second takes showing him moving images around. Damn it, I wanted to see more of his work. Don't most artists say that you can know them best through their work? We don't get to see enough of Cunningham's work to make that judgment.
We often see Cunningham rushing down a sidewalk in front of someone he wanted to photograph so that he could get some good shots when they passed by. These scenes made me uncomfortable by their apparent rudeness, but maybe that is pretty low level stuff for New Yorkers. But I have to think that many a person who was idly walking down the street one day only to find their picture in the New York Times the next day would be a bit irritated.
There was a missed opportunity to discuss the legality of photographing people in public spaces.
The most frustrating thing for me was that I wanted to see more of his work. For the most part we see images, frequently multiple images per frame, for a split second. Impossible to absorb them with any level of appreciation. There were several scenes showing Cunningham working with an assistant (and driving him nuts) to compose layouts for the Times. Again, all we see is split second takes showing him moving images around. Damn it, I wanted to see more of his work. Don't most artists say that you can know them best through their work? We don't get to see enough of Cunningham's work to make that judgment.
We often see Cunningham rushing down a sidewalk in front of someone he wanted to photograph so that he could get some good shots when they passed by. These scenes made me uncomfortable by their apparent rudeness, but maybe that is pretty low level stuff for New Yorkers. But I have to think that many a person who was idly walking down the street one day only to find their picture in the New York Times the next day would be a bit irritated.
There was a missed opportunity to discuss the legality of photographing people in public spaces.